Magazine and feed means for stapling machines



Sept. 25, 1951 A. J. BATTEN 2,569,221

MAGAZINE AND FEED MEANS FOR STAPLING MACHINES Filed Jan. 11, 1949Patented Sept. 25,1951

MAGAZINE AND FEED MEANS FOR STAPLING MACHINES Alfred John Batten,Brentford, England, assignor t Gerrard Industries Limited, Brentford,England Application January 11, 1949,v Serial No. 70,290 In GreatBritain May 27, 1948 This invention relates to stapling machines of thetype having a magazine channel incommunication with a driver slot andfor the reception of lengths of wire or strip metal staples to be drivenby the machine.

I It is usual in machines of the foregoing type for the staples, whichare in the form of a strip of partially severed or rejoined staples, to'be fed through the magazine channel to the driver slot by a lightspring; and the magazine channel is usually provided with a closuremember. Consequently, for reloading it is necessary to remove theclosure member, and sometimes the spring as well, before a fresh stripof staples can be fed into the magazine.

Itis the principal object of the present invention to obviate thenecessity for removal of a closure member and/or the feed spring fromthe magazine of such machines for reloading.

According to the invention, the staple feeding compression spring isarranged around 'a guide rod which extends along the length of "themagazine channel but out of the path of the staple strip to be fed, anda staple strip contacting member is slidably and rotatably mounted onthe rod in front of the compression spring. The contacting member has ahandle which extends through a longitudinal slot opening through thecasing for manual engagement. The open slot has a notch at its rear endto permit swingingof the handle to retain the spring in the compressedstate and to swing the contacting member from the path of the staplestrip.

With this arrangement the rear or inlet end of the magazine channel maybe left permanently open, operation of the handle of the contactingmember enabling fresh strips of stables to be fed freely into themagazine and then to be urged forward to the operative position before areturn swing of the handle into the open slot.

The novel features that are considered characteristic of the inventionare set forth with partioularity in the appended claims. The inventionitself, however, both as to its organization and its method ofoperation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, willbest be understood from the following description of a specificembodiment when read in connection with the accompanying drawing,wherein like reference characters indicate like parts throughout theseveral figures and in which:

Fig. 1 is a side View in elevation and partially in section of anautomatic stapler embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line lI--II of Fig. 1; and

3 Claims.

Fig. 3 is a side view in elevation of the opposite side to that shown inFig. 1.

Iv As best shown in Fig. l, a stapler in accordance with the presentinvention may comprise a typical construction including a body Iterminating in a driver head 2!] which contains a driver 2| slidable ina driver slot 22. A handle 23 is pivotally mounted on the body andoperatively connected with the driver 2 I, and the body I has a magazineslot which opens into the driver slot 22 and is adapted to contain asupply of staples S to be fed respectively to the driver slot 22 forejection by the driver 2| in the usual manner. The foregoing structuremay be considered as typical of any and'all types of stapling machines.

V The present invention is particularly concerned with an improvedstaple magazine and staple feeding mechanism that facilitates, moreparticularly, construction of the apparatus and loading the magazine. Asbest shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the magazine slot comprises a magazinechannel 2 and a channel slot 3 extending longitudinally with an openingthrough one wall of the magazine channel 2. Preferably, the magazinechannel 2 opens' through the bottom of the body I and the channel slot 3opens through the top of the magazine channel 2. By this arrangement,the magazine slot may be readily machined or otherwise formed in thebody I, and the bottom of the magazine channel 2 may be closed by aslidable cover plate 5 which has inwardly inclined side flanges thatlock over complementary surfaces on the sides of the body I.

I The magazine channel 2 is of a size to snugly. but freely receive thestaples S transversely therein with the staple cross bars adjacent thetop of the magazine channel and across the opening of the channel slot3. The magazine channel 2 opens at one end into the driver slot 22 andat the other end it opens through the rear of the body I so that a freshsupply of staples may be readily inserted therein.

The channel slot 3 is narrower than the magazine channel 2 to provideshoulders 4 for retaining the staples S in the magazine channel 2. Thechannel slot 3 is closed at both ends and, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, anopen slot 8 opens from one wall of the channel slot 3 through theoutside of the body I, preferably from one side wall of the channel slotthrough the side of the body. A rod 6 is mounted longitudinally in thechannel slot 3 in alignment with the open slot 8.

A staple feeding element In is pivotally and slidably mounted on the rod6 and a light compression spring 1, which can extend the whole length ofthe channel slot 3, surrounds the rod 6 and is interposed between theelement I and the rear end wall, at the end remote from the driver slot22, of the channel slot 3. The element I0 includes a staple engagingportion that normally depends into the magazine channel 3 to engage and,under the influence of spring I, press against the rear staple S.

The element Ill also has a handle 9 extending through and slidable inthe open slot '8, and said slot terminates at its rear end, remote fromthe driver slot 22, on one side in a notch II and on the other side in arecess 4. The open slot 8 is intentionally made shorter than the channelslot 3 so that a few staples always remain in the magazine channel 2.any tendency for the last usable staple to slew and jam in the drivingmechanism. The actual strip engaging portion preferably extendssubstantially at right angles to the handle 9.

The operation of loading the magazine is carried out as follows: Thehandle 9 of the staple engaging element I0 i drawn back to its fullextent and turned into the notch I I in the guide or open slot 8, theactual staple engaging portion of the element I0 is thus turned throughthe recess 4 and the magazine channel 2 is cleared for the insertion ofa fresh strip of staples S. When the staple strip is in place, thehandle 9 is swung from the notch I I, turning down the staple engagingportion which engages the rear end of the strip, urging it forward underthe pressure of the compression spring I. When the last usable staplehas been driven, the operation is repeated.

The rear or inlet end of the magazine channel 2 is unobscured at alltimes, so that a staple strip may be fed in whenever the stripcontacting member is in its turned position. In the unlikely event of astaple strip jamming in the magazine slot, the bottom cover plate can beslid back to expose the whole slot.

Although a certain specific embodimentof the invention has been shownand described, it. is obvious that many modifications thereof arepossible. The invention, therefore, is not to be restricted except in sofar as is necessitated by the prior art and by the spirit of theappended claims.

I claim:

1. In a stapling machine of the type including a body having a staplereceiving driver slot and a staple magazine channel opening at one endinto said slot, the improvement which comprises the extension of theother end of said magazine channel to open through said body to define astaple loading opening, said magazine channel being of a size to snuglybut freely receive staples This is found to prevent transverselytherein, a channel slot in said body longitudinally of and openingthrough one wall of said magazine channel and being closed at its ends,an open slot longitudinally of said channel slot and opening on one sideinto said channel slot and on the opposite side through said body, a rodfixed at its ends in said body and mounted in said channel slotsubstantially in alignment with said open slot, a staple feeding elementslidably and pivotally mounted on said rod and including a stapleengaging portion normally extending beyond said channel slot into saidmagazine channel and a handle on said staple feeding element andnormally extending through said open slot for manual engagement beyondsaid body, a spring biasing said element to feed staples to said driverslot, and a notch in the end of said open slot that is spaced from saiddriver slot to permit the swinging of said handle to pivot said elementon said rod and swing said staple engaging portion from said magazinechannel to permit the loading of the latter.

2. A stapling machine according to claim 1 in which the channel slotopens through the top of said magazine channel and is of less width thanthe magazine channel to form shoulders to locate the strips of staples.

3. In a stapling machine of the type including a body having a staplereceiving driver slot and a staple magazine opening at one end into theslot and at the other end through said body, the improvement whichcomprises a channel shaped opening extending longitudinally in thebottom of said body and forming said staple magazine, the bottom of thesides of said body being inwardly inclined longitudinally of the body,and a channel shaped cover plate having inwardly inclined side flangesfor engagement with said inclined body sides and removably slidablelongitudinally on said body to close the bottom of said staple magazine.

ALFRED JOHN BATTEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

